Considering moving to TX from NorCal (Houston, Austin: home, find a job, gated)

[Mark Senior]

Originally Posted by LeeB

I am in Modesto (going to Church soon today) but I have been looking at Canyon Tx. it is about 20 miles south of Amarillo...… Check out the thread I started....

LeeB

Noway, WAY to conservative, op pointed out they are very liberal, Austin is by FAR the best fit, and it sounded to op as Austin was the best fit.

[LeeB]

Originally Posted by Mark Senior

Noway, WAY to conservative, op pointed out they are very liberal, Austin is by FAR the best fit, and it sounded to op as Austin was the best fit.

I'll stick with Canyon Tx.....

[bbcoffee]

Originally Posted by Mark Senior

Noway, WAY to conservative, op pointed out they are very liberal, Austin is by FAR the best fit, and it sounded to op as Austin was the best fit.

Right? Lol I drove through Amarillo once and felt immediately highly uncomfortable (unsafe, out of place) even just stopping to use the bathroom.

[RMESMH]

Originally Posted by River City Rocky

Yea I think most of the Northside is pretty decent; look into places like Boerne, Cibolo, and the far Northside of the city and the topography should be similar to that of the Austin suburbs and the crime should be pretty low.

^^^^^ This, OP.

My house is in The Woodlands (northern suburb of Houston, and I'm an SF Bay Area native) and I usually stop in Boerne (sometimes for more than a day) when driving to visit or coming back from California. I like Boerne and, If I moved to the San Antonio metro I would, as River City Rocky suggests, look at Boerne, Cibolo, etc.

__________________________________________________ _____________

OP......re Houston....zip codes that:

1. I've spent quite a bit of time in.

2. I've felt quite safe in.

3. Have housing that would likely be comfortable for a family of five AND that is also has choices in your price range.

4. Are in good school districts

= 77380 , 77381 , 77389 , 77388 , 77379 , 77069

^^^^^ Of those....

77069 = Houston, TX addresses

77389, 77388, 77379 = Spring, TX addresses

77380, 77381 may appear as either Spring or The Woodlands in real estate listings (right now there are only 2 listings 250k or under and 2200+ sf in 77381, and zero in 77380

It is a bit confusing, but Spring essentially = two things:

1. Spring is a CDP (Census Designated Place)....the Spring CDP is in zip code 77373, and you don't want to be there, as most if not all of 77373 is in Spring ISD

2. Spring is a postal designation that includes over 300,000 people...including all or part of 8 different zip codes...in two counties (Harris and Montgomery)....and parts of 5 different school districts (Conroe ISD, Klein ISD, Spring ISD, Tomball ISD, and (very few) in Magnolia ISD)

The 6 zip codes I listed above are all in Conroe ISD or Klein ISD (except some of 77388 might be in Spring ISD, so Add 'Klein ISD' to a search on Zillow.com or HAR.com (HAR=Houston Association of Realtors) for 77388).

I'd say generally, Klein ISD and Conroe ISD are the two most well regarded of those districts, and you definitely want to stay away from Spring ISD.

_________________________________

For other Houston areas different from the above that might sit the bill for you re price, safety, size (I think I was eyeballing at least 2200 sf), and schools:

77065 Zip Code
I like the Starbucks in that area, and I've felt safe while in that zip code. CD member Crone lives in that zip code. She lives in the Wortham Grove subdivision, and has posted that she and her husband like it, feel quite safe, and likes that it is at a slightly higher elevation (IIRC, during Hurricane Harvey, not only did her house and yard NOT flood, the elevation + drainage system even kept all of the streets all clear). If I left the Houston area, and later returned, and still wanted a single family house, I might pick her subdivision just because of the location and the elevation. IIRC, she's lived there for about 5 years. She and her husband moved there from the Champions area (where their kids went to school (Klein ISD))...but I don't know if she lived in zip 77069 or 77379 while there. She knows that area from a family perspective. You might try Private Messaging her.

Katy TX - Katy ISD
You would have a number of options in your price range, both new and resale. Almost all of those are north of I-10. Some consider the north of I-10 part of Katy 'less upscale', and the part south of I-10 'more upscale'. CD member Nigerian Nightmare is, IMO, a pretty informed young woman. I think she graduated from high school in Katy last year. She knows the area well. You might try private messaging her.

Sugar Land TX - Fort Bend ISD
There are only about 10 houses in your price and comfortable size range, and most are in the farthest out parts of Sugar Land.

Spring Branch ISD
There are zero single family homes in your price range in the zips for Stafford High School and for Memorial High School. I believe there are 2 or 3 homes listed in your price range and size that feed into Spring Woods High School.

Areas Closer To The Beach That Might Fit The Bill For You:

Friendswood -- There are two Single Family, 250k or less, 2200 sf+ listings there. Everything else single family, of that size, would cost more.

Clear Lake City -- (which is a largely older master planned community) and other parts of Clear Lake, had a fair number of listings. Much of the Clear Lake area and the city of League City are zoned to Clear Creek ISD.

League City -- has a number of listings that are newer (the houses, not the age of the listings ) that might fit the bill. League City is the city in Galveston County that is closest to Houston.

If you want to at least somewhat of an idea what League City is like, see if you can find episodes of the TLC network television series OutDaughtered on the internet. That series follows the Busby family. They have the only set of all girl quintuplets in the United States. They also have an older daughter....so six daughters. The Busby family lives in League City.

________________________________________

Coming from the northern part of the metro (Willis, Conroe) toward downtown, some might say you go from more conservative to less as you get closer to downtown. Some might say the same is true coming from the farther west side (Katy) to the center. I've never heard anyone say that re coming from the south to the center, nor from the east to the center.

[slo1318]

Originally Posted by bbcoffee

We are a family with 3 young children, currently living in the Sacramento area, and we want to move somewhere with a more affordable cost of living, more job opportunities, cleaner air (the smoke from wildfires here last year was horrendous - we were trapped in our home for three days), etc. I also have a rather odd desire to move somewhere with lots of thunderstorms... I lived in Nashville for a very long time and I loved the storms there on like a spiritual level lol. It hardly even rains here in Sac, only in Winter, only thunders maybe once or twice a year, and we've had a lot of drought years so it's even rarer lately. Anyway, I homeschool my kids so I'd like to find a good secular homeschool community.

I would prefer to live in the suburbs, but within about 30-45 mins from a major city. I've grown to love being on the outskirts of the capital cities for some reason. Austin sounds honestly amazing from what I've read. We are very liberal and non-religious, though we both lived in the Bible Belt for many years, so it's not like the religious stuff would be a culture shock for us. I know people there say it's expensive now, etc, but it's still not California expensive. We have a lot of equity, so if my husband can find a decent job there, we can get a huge house for way less than what our current very small house is worth. He works for the state, so finding a state job again would be cool, but he's open to customer service/call center, or some kind of management position, though he'd prefer to avoid retail. I'm not sure how difficult it is to get a job from out of state, or if we'd need to just show up and hope he can find something quickly (we will have some money to live off of while he searches, but not sure how renting without a job would work).

Houston sounds appealing in some ways too, especially as cheap as the houses are there, but it seems like the crime is a lot higher. I love the ocean, though, but apparently it's not really something you can swim in there like you would in SoCal or Florida? IDK. I just want to find somewhere affordable, safe, family friendly, and where we won't stick out like sore thumbs too badly. I don't mind the humidity too much - BTDT. I hate the 110 degree weather here for half of the Summer in Sacramento. When they say "it's a dry heat" well - it's still heat and it's miserable all the same IMO. So I'd prefer to not live anywhere too desert-y. I'm open to other areas that may fit the bill. I'd really like to narrow it down to a few places within reasonable proximity so that we can visit all in one trip and make a decision. Forgive me if my limited knowledge of Texas is incorrect. I've been reading a lot online so that is all the info I have about it.

I know both areas well, having grown up in Lodi, and spent 21 years in DFW. The heat in Texas is different, its far more intense than Sacramento. The heat in the valley is hot for sure, but it tends to cool down more at night and tends to go up and down. In Texas its just hot from June into September.
I would embrace the culture there and maybe temper your own beliefs, study what it is that makes it successful for families. The cost for housing has risen a lot in the last few years, I'm actually expecting a correction in the next downturn, which Texas rode out very well in the last one.

[Katera]

1. You don't like the heat of Sac, but are looking at Texas??? ROFL! Wow, you have no idea what real heat is until you have spent a summer in Houston...or 10 months in Houston. We lived there for 22 years (I grew up in LA btw) and had to run our AC literally 10-11 months 24/7 because of the humidity. Houston and its surrounding areas are TERRIBLE. My wife said it was like living in a Mouth.....hot, humid and smelled bad. That pretty much summed in up.

2. Austin is still very humid and freaking expensive. I'm talking California expensive. It's this little liberal hold out in a sea of ruby ass, MAGA hat wearing red. Good luck there.

3. DFW prices have been sky rocketing lately (where I live now) and remember this. On that $250k house you want to buy? You will be paying about $5500/year in property taxes...EVERY SINGLE YEAR.

Good luck.

[Mark Senior]

Originally Posted by Katera

1. You don't like the heat of Sac, but are looking at Texas??? ROFL! Wow, you have no idea what real heat is until you have spent a summer in Houston...or 10 months in Houston. We lived there for 22 years (I grew up in LA btw) and had to run our AC literally 10-11 months 24/7 because of the humidity. Houston and its surrounding areas are TERRIBLE. My wife said it was like living in a Mouth.....hot, humid and smelled bad. That pretty much summed in up.

2. Austin is still very humid and freaking expensive. I'm talking California expensive. It's this little liberal hold out in a sea of ruby ass, MAGA hat wearing red. Good luck there.

3. DFW prices have been sky rocketing lately (where I live now) and remember this. On that $250k house you want to buy? You will be paying about $5500/year in property taxes...EVERY SINGLE YEAR.

Good luck.

Just another perspective on the Houston area. Lived in Houston 25 years, never lived in the eastern, chemical areas of Houston. Lived in NW, Central, and North Areas up to the beautiful Woodlands area. Never smelly. DFW is hotter to me, if less humid.
Simply, just trade offs.

[Wileykid]

California heat has nothing on Texas. Lived in SoCal for 40 years, and frequently in the Mojave desert area, so 108* wasn't uncommon during the summer. But that still ain't nothing compared to Texas.

[SugLandDAd]

I love the ocean, though, but apparently it's not really something you can swim in there like you would in SoCal or Florida? IDK.


You need to do more research........we swim at the beaches in Texas.


15 Most Beautiful And Best Texas Beaches - The Travel Love

[Katera]

The first time we showed up at Galveston to "go to the beach", my wife looked at me and whispered...."My god, what have we done....?" That was her reaction upon seeing the cesspool that is that Texas beach vs where we grew up in California.


True story.